MELAKA: The Masjid Tanah Parliamentary seat will be a fight to watch in the state with Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali likely to be nominated as the candidate by Barisan Nasional.
The Melaka Chief Minister is expected to challenge Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin of Perikatan Nasional in the 15th General Election (GE 15).
Melaka political observer Micheal Ching, who accurately predicted Barisan's victory in last November's Melaka election, said that both local popular figures are battling overa constituency that is made up of 51% young voters out of the 69,098-voter electorate.
Ching said on Saturday (Oct 29) that Mas Ermieyati - who is also the Bersatu Srikandi (women's wing) vice-chief - has also been making moves to woo young voters
Furthermore, he said political parties will face challenges with Undi18.
Ching predicted that Sulaiman would face a uphill battle although he is known as a compassionate and down-to-earth chief minister.
"I strongly believe that Barisan leaders should inform the local electorate on the fate of Sulaiman whether he would continue to be chief minister after GE15.
"These are factors that Barisan needs to focus on during the campaigning blitz as well as explaining why GE15 needs to be held during the wet season," he added.
He said Barisan should work harder to woo voters in the constituency although Masjid Tanah was still considered a Barisan stronghold as the young voters and fence-sitters would cast their votes based on the current political development.
Meanwhile, there is a list of potential candidates for all six parliamentary constituencies in the state being circulated on social media.
The list also mentioned that incumbent Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin would be nominated as the Barisan candidate for the Alor Gajah seat.
However, Melaka Barisan chief Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh denied the list of candidates being circulated.
He said there was no confirmation of the names of candidates from the leadership.
Ab Rauf said Barisan has listed 30 potential candidates to be considered for GE15.
